It’s time to take a little break from the regular Kettering Story in FM 2011 and think a little bit about the future, more precise Football Manager 2012 features that I’d love to see implemented in the game. I do think that Football Manager 2011 is a very complex and well done game, but there are still some tweaks that I’d love to see in next year’s game. So let’s see what new features I’d like to see in Football Manager 2012!

Improve the Tactics Screen & Set Piece Editor
I would love to be able to place players a bit higher or lower on the field, give them more specific instructions and, most important, be able to create my set pieces without having to go for some preset positions.

Improvements to the Youth System
You should be able to get better youngsters after your club starts climbing up the ranks; You should be able to open youth academies, grow players there and promote the ones that deserve to be promoted; there should be infusions of talented youth players in random nations at random times e.g. the “Golden Generations” as it happened in Romania with Hagi, Raducioiu, Petrescu, Popescu etc. with an effect on National Teams.

More realistic after many seasons
Let regens who become top class players become idols for other new players and do something similar with managers.

More Help from the Assistant Manager
Let him tell you who is, according to him, the best striker in the squad, 2nd and so on (for every position). He should also be able to learn some basic team instructions that always stand (like showing wingers to the weak foot and so on).

Finances:
- Be allowed to ask the board for increased STAFF salaries
- Be allowed to choose the ticket prices myself and maybe being allowed to build merchandise shops & set partnerships with teams on other continents

Matches:
- More options for the team talk part
- More specific instruction to give to players (like get a yellow card to miss next game because you really don’t want the player to lose the one afterwards; try not to get booked at all and so on)
- The ability to talk to players (yell) during the game for a confidence boost
- And overall a better match engine, but this is something I’m sure we’ll get.

Do you have any specific feature you’d like to see in Football Manager 2012?